Weather for the Week

This week’s weather is basically a rollercoaster, the mornings are freezing then warm. Afternoons are 60 degrees then become summer-like mid 70s. Monday and Tuesday are the coldest days at 58 and 60, respectively. Although, Monday through Saturday are the picks of the week. Sunday appears to be rainy once again. 

What’s Going On in the Weather World?

12 years ago this Saturday was the Halloween Snowstorm of 2011. After the destructive summertime in Massachusetts with the tornado outbreak of 2011 and Hurricane Irene, an unusually early snowstorm struck New England. Records in 20 cities on the East Coast broke record snowfall amounts and produced “a rare ‘white Halloween’.” 

“On October 28, 2011, a high-pressure ridge (area of fair weather) was holding over Canada. A cold front/surface-low (area of bad weather) was centered over the Ohio Valley, moving eastward. It exited the coast, cooling the Northeast into winter temps. With a new low forming over the Carolinas, within 24 hours it would bring a rare snowstorm to the Northeast,” according to a NWS (National Weather Service) transcript on the snowstorm. Continuing, “Winds in Massachusetts began to gust up to 70 mph, triggering Hurricane Force Wind Warnings for the MA to Maine coasts. By this point, as the low was over the Atlantic, it reached a minimum barometric pressure of 971 mb (uncommonly low).”

As this fall storm began to bring significant snowfall to the East Coast, NWS offices issued Winter Storm Watches/Warnings from northern Maine to Virginia. By the end, the most snowfall was in Peru, MA with 32 inches of snow. 39 people died from falling trees, car crashes, and lack of heat in their homes.